Between the power cuts, fallen trees and scattered debris, Florida Keys is not the paradise it was before Irma hit, as seen in this video from Tavernier resident Kim DeMilly Hilson. In the video, Hilson pans around the beach, showing broken boardwalks and downed trees. “The Keys are bruised and battered, but still paradise with an amazing community that’s already working together,” Hilson wrote. Eight deaths were reported in the Florida Keys, according to the Miami Herald, and much of the population were left without cell or internet service. According to CBS Miami, people were cleaning up blocked streets and residents who evacuated were returning to their homes to tend to the damage. Credit: Instagram/Kim DeMilly Hilson via Storyful

September 15th 2017

12 days ago

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US President Donald Trump speaks to the press with First Lady Melania Trump before leaving for Florida. Picture: AFP/Nicholas KammSource:AFP

BOTH Hurricane Irma and Harvey broke historic weather records.

But US President Donald Trump has ruled out any link between climate change and the intense hurricanes that hit Florida and Texas while talking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his return from storm-stricken areas.

When asked by a reporter if the record-breaking storms had shifted his thinking at all, he replied: “We’ve had bigger storms than this”.

Hours before, on the first leg of his tour through storm-ravaged Florida, Mr Trump had lamented the “tremendous power” and “devastation” of Hurricane Irma. In a video address given before the storm hit, he warned that the hurricane had “absolutely historic destructive potential”.

Of Hurricane Harvey, he had claimed: “There’s probably never been anything like this.”

Questioned about climate change, however, the President changed his tune, and began discussing storms from the 1930s and 1940s.

“We did have two horrific storms, epic storms,” he said. “But if you go back into the ‘30s and ‘40s, and you go back into the teens, you’ll see storms that were very similar and even bigger, okay?”

Together, Hurricane Irma and Harvey marked the first time in recorded history that two Atlantic, Category 4 hurricanes hit the US in a single year.

US President Donald Trump helps serve food to people affected by Hurricane Irma in Naples, Florida. Picture: AFP/Brendan SmialowskiSource:AFP

His comments come after he viewed flood damage and handed out sandwiches to victims of Hurricane Irma in Florida as utility workers redoubled their efforts to restore power after eight retirees died in a sweltering nursing home.

A hurricane formed off the southwestern coast of Mexico, meanwhile, triggering warnings of life-threatening storm conditions in areas still recovering from a devastating earthquake last week.

Speaking to reporters in the city of Fort Myers on Florida’s west coast after a briefing on recovery efforts, President Trump lauded the authorities and residents for their preparedness.

“And while people unfortunately passed, it was such a small number that nobody would have — people thought thousands and thousands of people may have their lives ended,” he said.

President Trump said restoring electricity in Florida was a priority following the storm, which left at least 20 people dead in the southern US state, including the eight retirement home residents in Hollywood, north of Miami.

“There are more electrical people in this state, I think, than ever accumulated anywhere in the world,” the president said, referring to the scores of repair teams that have poured in from several states. “It’s going way ahead of schedule — weeks ahead of schedule.”

President Trump noted that the Florida Keys, the string of tourist islands off the southern coast of the state, had been particularly hard hit and recovery efforts there may take longer.

“That’s a very, very special problem,” he said. “That was just dead-centre, but we’re working very hard on that. And we have a lot of goods out there, a lot of water, a lot of food, a lot of everything.”

More than 2.6 million people were still without electricity on Thursday, according to the authorities, four days after Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys as a powerful Category Four storm.

Debris lies in a canal in Big Pine Key, Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. Picture: AP Photo/Alan DiazSource:AP

Florida Governor Rick Scott said “every person in our state wants their power back” and “we’re working hard to get our power back on.”

Governor Scott, who toured a flooded neighbourhood in Naples, south of Fort Myers, with President Trump and his wife, Melania, said efforts were also being made to alleviate gas shortages.

“We’re short of fuel,” he said. “We still have lines at our gas stations.”

In Naples, President Trump and the First Lady stood beneath a tent to hand out sandwiches wrapped in cellophane and bottled water to residents and recovery workers.

The president first struggled to put on a pair of white gloves. “They’re too small,” he said after the glove on his right hand ripped.

A storm-damaged truck is stuck in sand close to where Hurricane Irma washed out the two northbound lanes of Highway 1 in Bahia Honda, Florida. Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFPSource:AFP

Florida authorities were conducting a criminal investigation meanwhile into the eight deaths at the Hollywood nursing home, which had been without air conditioning since Irma struck.

Governor Scott said on Wednesday he was “absolutely heartbroken” to learn of the “unfathomable” deaths at the retirement facility and promised to “aggressively demand answers.” Three of those who died were in their nineties, including 99-year-old Albertina Vega. The youngest victim was 70, according to the Broward County Medical Examiner’s office.

Large Hole Appears Along Apopka Trail Following Hurricane Irma. Credit - City of Apopka via Storyful1:13

Authorities in Apopka, Florida, said they believed extreme weather conditions brought by Hurricane Irma caused a large hole to appear near Apopka Memorial Middle School on September 13. Schools spokeswoman Lauren Roth said a collapsed storm drain pipe caused part of the West Orange Trail, a 20.8 mile paved pathway popular with runners and bicyclists, to cave in, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Drone footage shared by the City of Apopka Facebook page shows the hole stretching through an open field and cutting the West Orange Trail in half. Credit: City of Apopka via Storyful

September 14th 2017

12 days ago

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MACRON VISITS CARIBBEAN

As President Trump visited Florida, French President Emmanuel Macron wrapped up a visit to the French overseas territories of Saint Martin and Saint Barts, two Caribbean resort islands devastated by Hurricane Irma.

The storm left around 40 people dead in the Caribbean before churning east and pounding Florida.

France, Britain and the Netherlands have been criticised for the pace of relief efforts in their overseas territories amid widespread shortages of food, water and electricity.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson visited the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla on Wednesday and pledged “absolute commitment” to Britons there.

France's President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with residents during his visit to the French Caribbean island of St. Martin. Picture: AP Photo/Christophe Ena, PoolSource:AP

HURRICANE FORMS OFF MEXICO

The Miami-based National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said meanwhile that Hurricane Max was moving eastwards just south of the resort city of Acapulco in Mexico and could make landfall later Thursday.

The NHC warned that Max, now a Category One storm, could strengthen before it reaches the coast.

“Maximum sustained winds are near 30km/h with higher gusts. Some strengthening is expected today before Max reaches the coast this evening or tonight,” it said.